Caffeinated Links: Cristin Milioti on HIMYM’s Finale, Guide to Listening to Music at Work, more

The Onion is often funny but occasionally, release something with such biting on-the-nose satire that you don’t know whether to laugh or nod your head. Man Who Treats Women With Respect Asked What His Secret Is – RT

Cristin Milioti weighed in on How I Met Your Mother rumors about the mother being dead for the entire show’s duration. Her comments significantly downplay that possibility but don’t dismiss it entirely. “And while she calls the Dead Mother idea “insane,” “crazy” and even “so crazy,” it’s worth noting that she never quite refutes/debunks it. In a word, she sums up the March 31 series finale as “beautiful.” RT

Fantastic piece from David Carr at the NYT about the new cultural role of television. “On the sidelines of the children’s soccer game, or at dinner with friends, you can set your watch on how long it takes before everyone finds a show in common. In the short span of five years, table talk has shifted, at least among the people I socialize with, from books and movies to television. The idiot box gained heft and intellectual credibility to the point where you seem dumb if you are not watching it…

Television’s golden age is also a gilded cage, an always-on ecosystem of immense riches that leaves me feeling less like the master of my own universe, and more as if I am surrounded.” RT

The complete guide to listening to music at work, via Quartz. Fascinatingly, it does count as multi-tasking, and your brain prefers instrumental or classical when you’re working. “It has never been easier to tune in to your own customized soundtrack—or more necessary to tune out your open-office coworkers, cubicle mates, and fellow coffee-shop denizens. But not all music is created equal, especially when there’s work to be done. How should you choose the best office soundtrack for a given task? Which songs will help you get energized, focused, or creative—or even just through a very long day?” RT

The Guardian has had the best online coverage of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane. “So when flight MH370 disappeared from plane tracking websites, it could mean the signals from the plane’s transponder were stopped deliberately (by pilots or others), or there was a complete electrical failure, or the plane disintegrated” from this article, and see the complete coverage here